1. Field of The Invention
The invention relates to I/O cards assembly, especially to connection mechanism of an external cable connector and an I/O section of such card assembly.
2. The Prior Art
The conventional IC or memory card/cartridge generally includes a connector or connection area positioned along an edge thereof to engage with an external memory or IC card connector for signal communication in and out, for examples, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,531,176, 4,780,791, 4,798,946, 4,849,944, 4,857,005, 4,864,116, 4,872,091, 4,890,197, 4,893,001, 4,909,742, 4,941,835, 5,038,250 and 5,061,845. Recently, I/O cards are gradually and popularly used in computer industry. The I/O card generally comprises two different connectors at two opposite ends wherein one is a standard 68 pins socket connector which is commonly used in the traditional memory card and is adapted to mate with an external traditional memory card connector mounted on the mother board in the computer. The other is a 9 or 15 positions Input/Output (I/O) connector, even though it has not been standardized, which is designedly adapted to mate with a complementary connector connected to an external cable for peripherals that work in conjunction with the computer, for examples, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,207,586 and 5,242,310.
Because of the growing competition in computer industry, the price becomes an important consideration for the manufacturer. Hence, to lower the cost of the components is the goal for a computer manufacture and his associated component vendors. It can be understood that in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,586 to MacGregor, the I/O connector is designedly integral with the frame of the card for reducing the number of the parts and eliminating some fastening job thereof partially for cost considerations.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an I/O card which has a simplified structure or less parts for low cost to, at its I/O end, mate with an external cable of peripherals. The present invention eliminates the I/O connector used in the prior art I/O card by arranging two terminal arrays staggering on opposite sides of the internal PC board within an opening at the I/O end of the I/O card instead thereof to mate with an edge card type connector connected to an external peripheral cable.